Ixodes ricinus is a hard tick that infests livestock, deer, dogs and a wide variety of other species including humans. This tick has long mouthparts that can make its bites painful and annoying; the bites can also become secondarily infected by bacteria. Feeding by large numbers of ticks may result in anemia. I. ricinus can also transmit a number of pathogens including Babesia divergens (babesiosis), louping ill virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) and Anaplasma phagocytophila (tick-borne fever of ruminants, human granulocytic anaplasmosis).